Episode 2: Anarchists, Space Nuts and Microtransactions

Notable News:

Not much in the way of news this week, but I do have a few things of note. Its no secret that Nintendo has been having some problems getting the Wii U to sell. Ubisoft came out and said they like it but the Wii U needs to sell more units. This can be said for a lot of consoles when they first start out except most of the time its due to low stock. In this case its due to no one buying it. Which leads to no games but there needs to be games to motivate people to buy one. So Nintendo is now stuck in a vicious cycle. Cryteck came out this week and said that they had Crysis 3 running but for the lack of a better word Nintendo and EA are not getting along. This is huge cause no matter how hated EA is by the gaming community they are still a big game producer and if Nintendo wants to sell consoles its going to need EA to release their games for the system. A lot of people are citing Nintendo's issues with Origin being the Origin of the problem (see what I did there) but no one truly knows.

Besides Nintendo having a rough time with their next gen system Cryteck came out and said Single Player is dead and Online Single Player is the future, basically meaning a connected experience (which is not actually single player in most cases). They are probably talking about drop in and out co-op, connected experiances like Dark Souls or the new Sim City and full world playgrounds with drop in and out players but with the option to solo quests. I for one like my Single Player games and would like them to stay that way.

Another quick news note form this week is about EA saying that they are going to have Microtransactions in all their games from now on. Whether it's a .99 cent game or a $60 game. This naturally set the internet ablaze and also is why my Weekly Feature is all about Microtransactions enjoy.

Weekly Feature:

EA and Microtransactions, Does Anything Change For Gamers?

EA has come out and said they are now going to have Microtransactions for all their games. Before we get too upset let's take a second to think about EA and how they did DLC this generation for many of their games. In most of the Need For Speed games that were released this generation there were many microtransactions in the form of quick unlocks and Dead Space 3 features microtransactions on its resources. So EA and microtransactions have been around just not in every game and they are really minimal. They do not change the game or make you spend money to truly get everything so with EA making a change to adding that to every game does this really change anything? Is there a reason to worry?

My answer no, EA has got a bad rap for many reasons but not many people talk about the microtransactions that are already in their games. Is it possible that EA could increase its microtransactions and make them much more obtrusive. However EA knows its customers and does not want to alienate them too much. I think we will just see more resource or quick unlock microtransactions in EA games. Does anything truly change for us Gamers?

If EA goes crazy and starts making microtransactions into everything cutting gameplay and features yes and if that truly happens I say boycott them because that should not be accepted. However it is far more probable that EA is going to just keep its current microtransaction model just in more games. So while it is easy to get upset over microtransactions lets make sure there is something to get upset about first and worry more about current problems like DLC endings and always online DRM which in my opinion is a much bigger problem nowadays.

What have I Been Playing?

Dead Space 3

So I have been playing and beat Dead Space 3 and I have some....things to say about this game. Dead Space 3 stars Isaac Clarke once again and this is a conclusion to the trilogy series. They have decided to take Dead Space out of the horror series (to be fair 2 was not all horror but at least felt a bit horror like) this one is an action game through and through. First quarter of the game is in space and is the absolute best part of the game and really reminds me of the first and second game. Then you end up on a planet and that is the rest of the game.

The problem I have had with this game is it's in the Dead Space series but it does not feel like a Dead Space game. It has next to no horror and FAR FAR too much combat. The combat is good with the dismemberment fans of the series have grown to love and cool looking enemies. However when you have to fight in EVERY room and fight what seems like 20 plus enemies every step it loses a lot. The enemies have one attack pattern: run straight at you. Your character cannot run fast enough away from most enemies to get out of hordes of enemies so you have to sit there and point blank shoot enemies. It makes it really annoying not hard just annoying and not fun and of course uninteresting. The boss battles are terrible you barely even focus on the boss themselves they are more an afterthought as you once again shoot more enemies that are running straight at you. The story and atmosphere are still totally interesting in the game and it does sum up the Dead Space series which is nice and I would hope that this is at least the last game for Isaac Clarke. As a side note the game is very pretty and one of the better looking games that I have played lately.

Anarchy Reigns

Anarchy Reigns is a Japanese beat em up that reminds me of a cross between Madworld and God Hand and honestly this could be the sequel to both mashed together. You start the story by choosing Black Side or White Side I chose Black Side where you play as Madworld's Jack. The story is not terrible but more of an excuse for the action. It's really fun and it's a Platinum Games...game. There are generally 3 main missions per stage and 3 side missions per stage. I am not yet done with it but I do see the Platinum charm in this budget game. If you are into punching stuff and using special moves like chainsaws or getting into punching battles similar to how DBZ does it this could be your kind of game. Simple but extremely fun! It has a multiplayer but I have not yet played it.

Notable Game Release of the Week:

Tomb Raider

The reboot of Tomb Raider comes out this week and it's getting rave reviews! I have yet to be able to play this game but it looks real good. It's a survival action game with a focus on Lara Croft's origin. It has some very similar gameplay elements to Uncharted, with a survival element to it with hunting and Lara's own psychological condition. Visually the game looks amazing and if you get the PC version you get some of the most realistic looking hair in gaming to date. Can Lara survive the island she crash landed on? Find out in what I feel is truly the highlight game this week.

Question of the Week

Is Cryteck right is Single Player games done? Is connected Single Player Experiences the future? How do you feel about this?

Signing Off

You can follow me on Twitter @Chaoskiller2000

Thanks Guys and Girls! See you next week stay classy!